#never was cataphile but i did the roofs of paris during the 14th of july

[austerlitzborodinoleipzig]

people live in catacombs?

Hahaha no they don't. Some people sleep in there but no one lives there per se.

So the catacombs are sprawling galeries under Paris. It's mostly abandoned quarries and it got the name catacombs because in the 1860s a lot of Parisian cemeteries were evacuated for sanitary reasons and the human remains were buried in those abandoned quarries. A small part has been converted into a museum. I visited it when I was little it was very cool, but most of the catacombs are closed to the public because they are unsafe.

That said illegal spelunking in the catacombs is a popular past time among Parisian students. Nearly every university has its "cataphile" team with their own maps and access. (You need a map! It's a labyrinth). It's not even hard to get into you can access them from the public sewage system or from nearly any building that is both old enough and has a cellar.

Lots of urbex group go down there. I've never done those but I know a lot of people who did or still do : ravers, stoners, drama students setting up underground spooky versions of theatre plays. (My sister went to see Jean Racine's Bérénice in the catacombs, by candlelight).

Now it's raclette season (cheese fondue with potatoes and ham) and having a raclette party in the catacombs is all the rage. You do need have a map, be in good physical condition (some galeries are unstable or full of rubble) and be ready to get wet because some galeries are muddy and/or inundated.